"She wouldn't want her remains to be disturbed, let her be laid to rest."
The words left Alex with a mix of emotions swirling violently in his chest, tangling into something dark and suffocating.
Grief?
Relief?
Regret?
He could not name it. It felt wrong that he could not name it.
So wrong that in the past four years he never felt such.
His lips parted and closed simultaneously, as though words stood at the edge of his tongue but refused to come through.
Lady Monica's gaze glued to him, steady and unblinking, the sharpness in her aged eyes cut deeper than any accusation.
"Do you still have anything to hold you back? Isn't the dead supposed to be buried?" She pressed calmly.
Her voice carried neither sorrow nor tremor. It was smooth, too smooth and controlled that Alex stared at her.
But her expression remained indifferent.
Alex couldn't shake the feeling that this grandmother of his wasn't the same as the lady who was always stuck to Sonia.
The lady who always whined about how he wasn't spending time with his granddaughter.
How he was neglecting her.
At every turn it was granddaughter here, granddaughter there.
To be precise, it was as though she never had any ounce of feeling for her.
Or was it just his imagination?
Alex rubbed his throbbing temple.
"Grandma, don't you feel hurt because of her death?" He asked at last, unable to restrain himself.
The question had tugged at his heartstrings right from the time the Old Lady showed that impassive attitude.
If anyone should be devastated, it should be her. She had been the one who insisted on the marriage.
The one who praised Sonia endlessly. The one who said Sonia was the pillar of the Hort family's future.
Lady Monica raised a brow with a slight pause.
"Why?" She smirked, her expression blank, her gaze locked on Alex.
The answer struck him harder than any slap.
Though she loved this grandson of hers dearly, she couldn't bring herself to watch him ruin a person's life out of carelessness.
She had witnessed enough destruction in this family to know that indulgence could be as fatal as cruelty.
She had to strangle the birth of such an act in the cradle.
"Like she had always been the most important person to you right from when she joined our family…otherwise…" Alex tried to explain.
Then he paused. His expression flickered lightly.
He had wanted to say otherwise she wouldn't have forced him into marrying her.
But he was afraid.
Afraid the old lady might snap at him or, worse, blame him for her death.
Maybe she would say he hadn't tried enough to keep her safe.
Maybe she would say he drove her to it.
Lady Monica smiled slowly, her lips parted as she spoke "I just hope you don't regret it after losing her."
The words were simple.
But they carried weight.
A weight that settled on Alex shoulders leaving him tensed.
He coughed lightly, suddenly feeling as though the air had thickened.
He was beginning to lose count of how many words the Old Lady had said that were all etched with regret.
Regret.
Regret.
Regret.
Does she despise him so much?
Shouldn't her earnest explanation be a word of consolation to him because of his wife's death?
Why did it feel like a warning instead?
His phone buzzed in his pocket, he dipped his hand into his suit pocket and pulled it out.
A glance at the screen and he sucked in a breath of cold air.
Monica's gaze flickered to him and settled for a moment, seeing him not making any move to answer the call.
She sighed. "Answer your call and don't keep people waiting." She muttered, her voice tinged with suppressed rage.
As though he was granted a rare reprieve, Alex sprang to his feet.
"Excuse me." He muttered softly as he left the garden, his steps hurried.
Lady Monica's eyes flickered unnaturally for a moment, a strange glint passing through them before she lowered her gaze.
When she lifted them again, they were as clear as day, as though she had felt nothing. Her eyes trailed behind him until he left the garden.
She exhaled.
"Alex, after today Sonia will cease to be your wife…maybe I was wrong to have chosen her for you."
She sighed.
"So painful that such a good daughter-in-law was lost. Well, she is still my granddaughter even though you might not want her."
Over the years Sonia and Alex had lived, Lady Monica had always been clear about the situation.
Sonia had always been at the receiving end of Alex's wrath and that mistress…her lips curled up.
She would want to see the best of what she would offer.
And if she finally enters the Hort family, she hoped to see how capable she would be to control the situation.
She calmly picked up her phone from the table and dialed a number. And the call was picked up at the first ring.
"Grandma," a young man called out respectfully.
"You've worked hard." She said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry but…I didn't expect things to be this way." He answered.
Lady Monica rubbed her brow tiredly. "It's okay...it hurts but then," she exhaled. "We can't change it."
"My condolences." He said gently.
She ended the call decisively. Then a glance at the path Alex Hort had left.
***************************
Alex left his grandmother's presence, his phone clutched tightly in his hand as he struggled to control the fury oozing from his body.
He slid his thumb against the phone screen and the sultry, worried voice of a lady spilled through.
"Alex," she called softly in a voice that one would mistake for a moan.
"What is the problem?" Alex's voice was cold and emotionless.
"Did I interrupt something?" She pressed innocently.
"Cyndi, can you not beat around the bush and say what you want?" he rasped. His fist clenched tightly.
Before coming here, he had told her to wait for his call when he returned from visiting the mansion, but just when he was still trying to iron out matters with his grandmother, she kept calling him relentlessly.
With Lady Monica's attitude moments ago, Alex was restless.
His heart thumped hard in his chest, his gut feeling was bending toward one direction…his grandmother meant more than she was letting on.
Ouch! A loud scream tore through Cyndi's lips, followed by her unsteady breathing.
"Cyndi!" Alex's anxious voice cut through the air before he gathered himself and shot a look around the open area.
He was the only one. He exhaled with relief.
"What happened?" He rasped, his fist subtly clenched as he dreaded the worst.
"Alex," she murmured, her voice nervous. "I am having cramps and it is painful." she gasped.
Alex's brow furrowed. "Cramps?"
"Y…Ye…Yes."
Alex's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. "What? Since when?" His voice trembled.
"Alex…Pl…ease." Her voice faded into the background.
"Cyndi? Cyndi?" He called anxiously. But there was no response.
"Shit!" He punched the air.
Alex rushed to his car, pulling the door open roughly and sliding into the driver's seat.
He turned on the ignition, the engine roaring, with another hand he buckled his seat belt.
For a split second, he recalled he hadn't bid his grandmother farewell.
But Cyndi and the baby shouldn't have an accident.
Not now.
Not when everything was spiraling out of control.
With this thought in mind, he slammed his foot against the accelerator and the car shot forward, tires screeched against gravel.
He quickly swerved the car and zoomed out toward the gate, his horn blaring sharply.
The security man at the gate hurriedly pulled it open and he zoomed past, leaving a tiny trail of dust in his wake.
His jaw tightened, his grip on the steering wheel whitened his knuckles.
He glanced at the side mirror and the mansion had long faded behind him.
The child cannot have an accident…just even for a bit.